Nature

Ascension Day was Thursday, so as is our tradition, Ingrid came over. We went to the annual market in my old town and played board games. The weather was real nice so we headed to the market on bike. Excellent opportunity for a few quick pics.

The good weather continued so Sunday I headed over to Nienke for lunch. Nom!

We’re having ice everywhere. I’m very glad I’m off work this week because everything is frozen. People are skating on streets even…

The front yard has stones in it, they are all frozen over and solid. The tile path, the street, the tiled front yard of the neighbour, it’s all ice.

Monkey is not impressed and stays in. There’s still ice on the window like in yesterday’s picture, but it has lessened some. In the backyard the ice is less thick so I managed to break it where it’s covering the path. I could shove it aside like piles of broken glass.

It’s like Mother Nature gives you this small touch as if to draw your attention to what’s going on around you. A little touch to remind you that, no matter what, she’s always there.12. Colourful things.

I’m a very visual person, and while I often really like black and white things, I need a touch of colour. My first instinct with black and white pieces is usually to go and colour it.13. Silence.

Nothing better for introspection and just living in the now.14. My dog.

This is a bittersweet one. Tessa was my first ‘real’ pet ( I had goldfish before) and I was completely hers (and she mine) from day one. She’s just such a happy go lucky dog, as soon as I come in, her tail starts wagging and she comes over for cuddles. However, I was fourteen when we got her, and now she is fourteen and her end of life is rapidly approaching. She has made it months beyond what I expected, but with each passing week it is clearer that she won’t be around much longer. This saddens me greatly, although I a, happy that she has had a good life, and that we will be there for her till the end.15. Taking that perfect photo.

I love taking pictures. And many of them are quite good, and some are really bad, and some are so-so. But when that one perfect-to-me shot happens, it’s such a great feeling. I’ve been having it much more often lately since I bought my first DSLR (Nikon D3100). And then are the ones I take now done on automatic. Just wait until I’ve learned all about the manual settings 🙂

16. Scrapbooks/Photoalbums.

I love to make and look through photo albums and scrapbooks. To relive memories and see and appreciate the effort put into preserving them.17. Ladybugs crawling on my hand.

I’m not a huge fan of bugs, but ladybugs are so precious. And it always feels special when they choose to come and sit on you and share their existence with you for a while.18. Butterflies around my head.

Similar to the ladybugs, butterflies just flitting about from flower to flower around me makes me feel connected to nature.19. Playing with wet squishy stuff (clay, that kiddy slime).

I can’t even explain this, I just love the feeling of sticking my hands in wet squishy stuff and wriggling them around and such.20. Fuzzy things.

What with the dour weather today, here’s the first installment of my 100 Things blog thing.

1. Sitting at the edge of a body of water, with the sun on my shoulders and my feet dangling in the water.

I was thinking about recent years the other day and this one summer day popped into my head. I wasn’t sure when it was, but I remembered myself and Eva and Nienke, sitting along the canal, our feet in the water, enjoying the sun. I knew I had pictures of this, I remember them, too. Unfortunately, twenty minutes of going through my photo folders later, I still haven’t found those. I do have, however, unearthed a video of that day. Just a short 30 second clip of the three of us. I think we’re discussing summer clothes.

2. The smell of freshly mowed grass.

I love living around a big field of grass. Every time the county’s gardening people show up to mow it I detest them for it since they also come early and use a little tractor type mower that makes a lot of noise and wakes me up. But the smell afterwards more than makes up for it 🙂

3. My cats.

Monkey’s a cat with a definite attitude, but at the same time he can be such a love bug. Tonight he spent a few hours sleeping on my lap, clearly showing the trust he has in me. He was so far gone in sleep he even turned over and showed me his pretty belly, which he almost never does.

Milo makes me smile with with his playing (something Monkey never really does). I love how he enthusiastically plays soccer with various cat toys until he bats it under something where he can’t get at it so he sits down and looks at it with this puzzled expression until I grab the toy for him. And his high pitched squeeky voice always makes me chuckle. Miew!

4. Lying comfortably outside, in the grass, with my eyes closed, in the spring sun, with just a touch of lukewarm wind.

Related to the first point, there’s just something so relaxing, and safe, about lying there and letting spring invade my senses.

5. Books.

I can’t live without books. It’s that simple. They feed my mind, my imagination, my dreams, my ambitions. They are wings and an anchor, a window and a door, friend and family. They help me make sense of the world, and they allow me to escape; whether it’s a one off that I’ll read once and might have forgotten a year later or an instant classic to me that will stick with me forever.

6. Waking up and realising you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything, you can just lie there and BE.

I love being able to enjoy the quiet and avoid the world for a while in the morning. Especially when it’s early enough that the sun is still coming up. You can hear (and see) the world wake up.

7. Floating in water.

Best mediation style, ever. One of my dreams is to have a house with a small pool (or a giant ass bathtub) that I can float in. It just has to be big enough that I don’t touch the edges and I’ll be perfectly happy.

8. The smell of spiced meat cooking.

I love most foods during cooking, but there’s just something about the combination of meat and herbs/spices together as they cook (or better yet, roast). If they made air freshener in this smell, I’d buy it 😀

9. Cake.

I looooove cake. Of all the more sweet desserts and treats, cake is by far my favourite. Especially layer cakes with cream or whatnot in between. Some of my favourites are Schwarzwalder kirsch cake, nougatine meringue cake, lemon cheesecake or basic cheesecake with strawberry topping.

10. Being taken care of by my mom when I’m sick.

Obviously the being sick part itself does not make me happy, in fact in tends to piss me off. However, whenever I’m really sick, I prefer to hang out at the parent’s place because just being around Mom while she does her normal things and such takes me back to childhood and makes me feel better much faster.